Possibilities
by KatieS
Summary: Episode and spoiler-based oneshots. Spoilers clearly labeled. All BB romance, K-T rated. Chapter 2 - The Difference. Spoilers for Man in the Outhouse. Maybe one ordinary man wasn’t enough for Temperance Brennan… but Seeley Booth was no ordinary man.
1. Until Today

A/N: I know there have probably been a million episode reaction pieces done for every episode, but sometimes after I watch them something that should have happened just strikes me... I apologize if I ever inadvertently write something similar to something previously published, I can't keep up with every fic on this site. This will be a collection of episode reaction oneshots and spoiler reaction oneshots (which will have clear warnings) if I decide to continue.

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**Chapter 1 – Until Today **

Rating: T

Spoilers: The Bone That Blew (episode based)

Summary: Some conversations are better overheard…

Disclaimer: I own 206 bones. 207 if you count the rat skull I found in the garden when I was eleven. I do not, however, own Bones. Darn.

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Poised to walk across the lobby, Brennan paused at the sound of two familiar voices.

"Can I ask you something?" Unmistakably her father. What caused Brennan to stop short was the voice that followed.

"Sure." She'd know her partner's voice anywhere. What could her father possibly want to ask Booth? Despite herself, Brennan continued to listen.

"Are you sleeping with my daughter?"

Brennan nearly choked. Way to be forthright, dad. Poor Booth, she thought. Why, why did everyone seem to think there was something between them?

"No," she heard Booth reply. She could hear the discomfort in his familiar voice.

"Why?" she heard her father ask. Brennan's mouth dropped. Why? Poor Booth! She couldn't imagine how awkward he must feel right now. "Are you gay?" her father continued.

Brennan nearly laughed out loud. No way, Booth was 100% heterosexual man. But what was her father thinking, she couldn't have platonic relationships with men without them being gay? What gave him the right to interfere with her personal life anyways?

"No," she heard Booth assure her father.

"Well what is it then, is she not pretty enough?"

Brennan's breath caught. That was it, right? He wasn't physically attracted to her. Obviously. Finally the old man had hit the nail on the head. Then she lifted her head in surprise as Booth spoke again. "No… Bones is beautiful."

Her heart hammered in her chest and she felt a thrill in her stomach. Brennan couldn't believe she'd just heard him say those words. "Bones is beautiful." She could still hear him. The rest of the conversation didn't matter now. He thought she was beautiful.

Temperance Brennan had been told she was beautiful, pretty, hot, sexy, and so on and so forth countless times by various men and even a few women. She'd always brushed off the compliment, preferring to pride herself on her intellect. Why then, hearing Booth voice this opinion of her, was she suddenly reduced to putty?

Assured that her father and Booth were gone, Brennan sank into a chair and closed her eyes. Emotions were so distracting. How was she supposed to concentrate on work when all she could think about was that Booth, her partner, thought she was beautiful? And if that was true, then why _wasn't_ he sleeping with her? She'd made it quite obvious that she had no qualms about satisfying her biological urges.

Brennan was understandably startled to hear her partner's voice again. "Hey Bones," Booth greeted, sinking into a chair next to her. Inwardly, he wondered just how close to this spot she'd been a few minutes ago. He hoped she hadn't overheard that awkward conversation he'd just had with her father.

"Booth," she greeted in surprise, her eyes flying open. Pink tinged her cheeks. She wasn't expecting to have to face him quite this soon.

"Something wrong?" he asked, concerned.

Brennan shook her head. "No, it's nothing," she replied.

"Bones," he warned, eyes telling her that no way was she going to get away with a simple 'it's nothing'.

"I just… uh," Brennan stammered. Her equilibrium still thrown off by what she'd heard and by having to come face to face with Booth so soon afterwards, it seemed she couldn't quite control the words coming out of her mouth. "Do you really think I'm beautiful?"

Booth's mouth dropped open. "You heard that? Bones, I'm sorry, I… your dad…"

"So you didn't mean it then?" she asked, trying not to let her disappointment show.

She was failing miserably. Her shoulders slumped slightly and she looked dejected. Hating to be the cause of her distress, Booth placed his hand gently on her smaller one. "No, Bones… I meant it," he said softly. "You are so beautiful."

Surprise flashed across her features. Brennan searched his eyes for some kind of deceit but found nothing. He was being honest. He really thought she was beautiful. She couldn't stop the next question that burst forth, and was mortified when it came out. "Then why aren't you sleeping with me?"

As soon as she said it she gasped and covered her mouth. "Booth, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to…"

Booth was silent for a moment, though he made no move to withdraw his hand from on top of hers. He seemed to be deep in thought. Maybe he hadn't heard her, Brennan irrationally hoped.

No such luck. Booth looked up at her with an intensity in his eyes that would have scared her, but for the intense trust she had in him. "Bones, you are more to me than that, okay? I'm not going to just be another guy who uses you and leaves. That's not me. I… I care too much about you, about us… yes, Bones, you are beautiful. My god, you're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen… but that's not all I see when I look at you Bones, you're so much more."

Brennan was embarrassed for the umpteenth time as she felt tears well in her eyes. "What else do you see?" she whispered, paying no heed to the fact that they were in the lab, her place of work.

"I see my partner," he replied. "I see a woman who is so smart I can't even begin to keep up with her on my best day. I see someone who is dedicated to her work and to doing the right thing. I see a woman who is strong, who has faced trials that no one should have to, but who has come through it for the better. I see the only person besides Parker who can brighten my day no matter how bad it is. I see a woman I care about more than I ever thought possible, Bones."

She was silent for a moment. When she began to speak again, Booth wondered if she'd heard a word he'd said. "Then why aren't you sleeping with me?"

Just as he was opening his mouth to speak again, this time with an edge of frustration, she interrupted. "I mean, if you care that much about me," she said. "And you think I'm beautiful. Isn't that what you do when you're attracted to someone?"

"A relationship, Bones. That's what you do when you're attracted to someone," he sighed, feeling defeated.

"Then lets do that," she replied simply.

Booth looked up sharply. "I thought… you made it pretty clear that you didn't believe in… that sort of thing."

Brennan smiled softly. "I didn't," she replied. "Until today."

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A/N: I've been writing fanfic for years and Bones fanfic since August, I've got quite a bit saved on my computer but until now I've been too scared to post. There are a lot of wonderful authors and stories on this site and it can be a little intimidating! Reviews are appreciated but please be gentle. For this particular oneshot I had to improvise on the setup of the Jeffersonian so if you had trouble visualizing I apologize.


	2. The Difference

**Chapter 2 – The Difference**

Rating: T

Spoilers: The Man in the Outhouse (episode based)

Summary: Maybe one ordinary man wasn't enough for Temperance Brennan… but Seeley Booth was no ordinary man.

Disclaimer: I don't own Bones, I only own bones and those aren't nearly as much fun to play with.

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She had no idea what she did to him. Satisfying biological urges… engaging in roleplay… dating every good-for-nothing Joe off the street and taking them to bed… dammit, she had no idea.

His fists clenched over the steering wheel. No. Fucking. Idea. Those bastards had no right to touch her, they had no idea how special she was. She had no idea how special she was, or she would never let them. Sure, she could feed him line after line about biological urges, but he knew the truth. She was brilliant, the best in her field, knew everything about science and anthropology and skeletons, but she didn't know the heart. Temperance Brennan didn't know what making love was. She was trying to fill a hole, sure, maybe satisfy biological urges, but she would never find what she was really looking for because that was love, and she didn't know she wanted it. Had she ever known making love, sex would never be enough for her.

Why the hell did this bother him so much?

Because he knew her, he told himself. He knew how special she was, he appreciated her, all of her. Her brain, her heart, and yes, her body. Maybe she hadn't picked up on it, but he had been keenly aware when he said that there wasn't a man in England who didn't want to have sex with her, that at the time, Seeley Booth was technically in England. Hell, he was a man, he'd have to be blind not to see how beautiful she was – but Bones was more than just a beautiful woman to him… which was why he'd never crossed that line. With her, it wouldn't be sex… it would be making love.

Love. It was a scary word to some, and Seeley Booth was certain that Temperance Brennan was one of the most frightened. Love meant risk… the risk of losing it… the risk of being abandoned… and Booth knew his partner. She was terrified of being abandoned.

He didn't blame her. He knew about her past… her parents leaving, her time in foster care, even as an adult watching her father and brother leave over and over, losing Zack to Gormogon, watching Sully sail away without her, every one of them sending the unconscious message that something, somewhere, was more important than she was. What she didn't understand is that Seeley Booth wasn't going anywhere. Startlingly, he realized that there was nothing, anywhere, more important to him than she was.

This is the thought that scared Booth. Their partnership, their work, was important to him, and he knew it was important to her. He'd drawn that line because if they became more important to each other than the work they did, they could never take the risks they had to in order to be the best. Bones had taught him a few things though, a little of her logic had rubbed off on him, and it was this that caused him to realize that the line had already been crossed. As careful as they'd been not to let that unspoken aspect of their relationship come to fruition, the line had been crossed somehow, because he knew that she was already more important to him than anything in the world. Should they choose to develop that aspect now, the line would be no more or less crossed than it already was.

It was this logic that led him to drive to her apartment on Friday night. He'd show her she didn't need to date two guys at once, because just one guy could fill that hole… it just had to be the right one.

She wouldn't run. Not from him. She trusted him. He knew her. He knew how to keep her from running. And dammit, he couldn't stand one more minute of watching her with other men. Men who didn't deserve her, hell, he didn't deserve her, but at least he knew that. At least he knew she was special… and he, unlike all the others, would never abandon her.

So he didn't hesitate when he knocked on her door. He didn't wonder whether or not he should have come when he saw her blue eyes register surprise at his presence. He didn't feel the need to make up some excuse as to why he'd come over at this time on a Friday when they didn't have a case. No, he was ready for this, because it had been three years in the making.

"Booth." Her voice registered the same surprise as her eyes.

"Hey Bones," he smiled gently. Ease into the seriousness. "I um… I think I need to talk to you."

She was puzzled but opened the door wider to let him into her apartment. "Can I get you something to drink?" she asked.

"Anything but tea," he laughed, alluding to their recent return from the U.K.

He settled himself on her couch and she re-entered with two bottles of water. "Best I can do right now," she told him. She sat opposite him on the couch and looked to him expectantly.

"Bones, what I said earlier, about dating two guys…" he began. She sighed, fearing a lecture, but giving him a moment to finish before launching into a tirade about double standards and personal lives and anthropology and biological urges.

"I meant what I said," he continued. "It's not right. But… there's more to it than that Bones."

The anthropology speech started to fade from her lips. What did he mean by that?

"Bones… do you remember what I told you after that… case…" – a look of discomfort crossed his face – "about sex and making love?"

She nodded slowly, still not sure where he was headed with this.

"Bones…" He was losing some of the confidence he'd come in with. This part was going to be hard to say right. "Dammit, this is impossible," he verbalized. "What I'm saying is, just like making love is something special… a relationship should be special. You shouldn't feel like you need two guys."

"It's not human nature to mate for life," she replied, retreating to the comfort of science.

"Anthropologically speaking, you're right," he told her, borrowing two of her favorite words. "But Bones, some things defy anthropology. I know that's hard for you to believe, and sure, anthropology can make sense of most things, but sometimes it's missing something. Like what you said about the danger of being too logical. There's a human element… and love… love is the human element."

She nodded slowly, trying to accept that perhaps he could be right. "Why are you telling me this?" she asked, a bit confused.

Here we go.

"Bones, love is something you can't control," he said. "A long time ago, I drew a line to protect you… I told myself we could never cross it, for the sake of our partnership. I guess… I was trying to control it… but I couldn't, because Bones, don't you see that we crossed that line a long time ago? Don't you see how important you already are to me? Watching you with these… men… trying to satisfy your biological urges or whatever but missing out on real love… Bones, I can't stand it anymore. I know you're not used to the idea of a committed relationship, but you know me. You know I'm not going anywhere. I'm not going to abandon you. I just want a chance… a chance to show you what we could be." There. He had put himself out there. Booth's stomach turned over. Had he just ruined their partnership forever?

Brennan's shoulders felt heavy with the weight of the admission he had just made. "I don't… know what to say," she said honestly, heart aching with confusion, wanting desperately to give him an honest response.

"Say how you feel," he prompted, his heart constricting in his chest. She was going to turn him down. Dammit Booth, that line was there for a reason.

"I don't… know how to do things like this," she began. "I know… logically… you're right about the line. When I thought you were dead… Booth, I know it's physically impossible, but it felt like part of me died too. That's something anthropology can't explain, and maybe that falls into your matters of the heart. I don't know, it's all so confusing to me. All I know is… you… you're different. You mean more to me than anyone ever has. I know you won't abandon me, and you're the first person I've ever felt confident enough to say that about. You tell me I'm special… but you are too. You're like no one I've ever known. And I don't know love, I don't know the heart or people. Maybe that's what this is, I just don't know, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to find out. I'm just… scared. I don't like the unknown, I like things that I can quantify, explain."

Immeasurably relieved, he took her hand gently, cradling it between both of his. "Let me teach you," he urged. "I know you're scared. Let me show you that there's nothing to be afraid of. Please, Temperance. Try with me. We owe it to… ourselves… to try."

"What if we don't work out?" she near-whispered. "Angela and Hodgins…" She didn't know why the thought of her friends' suddenly failed relationship brought tears to her eyes but she tried to blink them back. Too late, he had noticed. He always noticed.

"We're not Angela and Hodgins," he told her gently. "But Bones, if you wanna know the truth, I think they'll work it out. I'm your matters of the heart guy, remember? Some people are just right. Angela and Hodgins, they're right. You and me… I think we're right too. No, I know it. And we'll make sure we work out too. We're strong, remember? We're the best."

"The best," she repeated. "Okay, Booth. What am I missing?"

His heart leapt. That was the opening he needed. This, she could quantify.

Softly at first, he brushed his lips across hers, their softness pulling him in further. He flicked his tongue over her bottom lip and she acquiesced to its silent request, parting her lips and allowing him access.

The taste of him sent a shock through every nerve in her body and she found herself leaning in, molding her mouth to his, unable to get enough of him. She lapped at his lips as though she were trying to obtain life-saving sustenance and he responded with enthusiasm, arms winding around her and fingers tangling in her hair. She traced his muscles through his shirt, never breaking the contact between their lips. She was dismayed when he pulled away and looked into her eyes.

"Understand now?" he breathed, hoping her answer wouldn't make a fool out of him.

"God yes," she panted. He looked at her imploringly and she smiled. "It's us," she told him simply and buried her head in his shoulder. "That's the difference. Thank you, Booth."

"Anytime, Bones," he replied, placing a light kiss on her head. "Besides, just wait until you find out what making love is."

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A/N: Did anybody else feel the need to justify Brennan's actions in that episode to themselves? I guess this story was my way of doing that. Once again, reviews are welcome but please be gentle, I'm insecure about sharing my writing.


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